boxst

Hello

Having a discussion with my wife, is there such a thing as a "house cat", one that is effectively agoraphobic and wants to stay in the house?

Thanks,

Steve

Petem95

Nope doesnt work.

I know a few people who have had this idea, but the cats see wildlife (animals and birds) out the windows, and want to get out there to kill them all, and sooner or later they will.

Get a house rabbit instead, that works

David Lock

If you lived next to certain folk on here the cat wouldn't want to leave the house

Lots of peeps have cats that stay indoors 100% and seem quite happy but would probably rather be outside by choice.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Yes, My Gran's basically never leaves the house. Pretty much kips on the bed 24/7. Has absolutely no interest in the outside world except to do her business, or if my gran is outside.


She's nicknamed Don Corleone , because she most certainly is the the "god cat" The other cats are scared stiff of her

Southern Guy

If you want a cat to be a house cat than you have to start as you mean to go on, when they are a kitten get them toys and beds and things that amuse them, dont even think about showing them the door, basically they turn into house cats as they dont know what they are missing, yes they will see things outside and want to play doesnt mean they would want to go outside....

IMHO I remember the first time i let my Cat out into the back garden, it put its paws onto the grass **** a brick and wanted to run straight back in the house, was hilarious...ok suppose you had to be there!

boxst

Thank you for your replies so far, is there a particular breed that prefers the indoors?

I did think about showing the cat pictures of AJM to scare it off of the outside world.

Steve

ajm

I am assuming that by "house cat" you mean "pet cat".... not to be confused with "a cat I purchased and then released into the environment because I couldn't be arsed to look after it"?

SJ_Skyline

We got our first rescue cat when we lived in a 1st floor flat. She stayed indoors all the time, after 2 years when we moved to a house she was a bit timid about outside but took to it.

It is a one direction journey though, once you have let the cat out of the bag so to speak.

There needs to be plenty of things for them in the house if they are to be housebound - catnip toys, *****, bells, scratch posts and a covered litter tray. Expect any green plants like dragon ferns to get a good trimming

ajm

boxst

Hello

"house cat" as in a pet that doesn't go outside and is content to just annoy its owners as opposed to the general neighbourhood.

Steve

OllyK

Hey ajm, looks like we have found that most elusive of creatures, a responsible cat owner!! Keep it up boxst!

Patt@firstime

AFAIK there is a breed which cannot be allowed to live outdoors aswell as inside. My sister has one - the breed is a 'Ragdoll' and is a 100% Ragdoll. It's a pedigree I think. It was the best part of £400 - about a month ago.

Heres a couple of pics specially for Alex

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lo/Picolo7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lo/Picolo5.jpg

Matt

SJ_Skyline

The thing with pedigrees is they get ill or have associated problems due to the inbreeding. The cats protection league re-house abandonned moggies, these are the ones that need loving homes the most - IMHO.

Patt@firstime

I've heard that too but the breeder who 'Picolo' came from said they need more looking after than an other 'pedigree' but are generally more healthy etc.

Matt

Hanslow

Make that two

I think our cat is a little weird. She rarely goes out (we have no cat flap so have to let her out) and when she does, she comes back in to go to the toilet in her litter tray. She's also scared of birds and does not leave the garden. Probably down to her upbringing as she was rescued off a farm (before she met with a spade to the head as they had enough cats already) when she was not very old at all. She's now about 13 years old and has given us many years of happiness and will hopefully continue to do so

I don't know if there is any particular breed that is better as a housecat or if it's in their upbringing as already mentioned, they do exist though

corradoboy

Ragdolls aren't specifically house cats, it's just preferable to keep them indoors as they are so friendly they will live in anybody's house and are so gentle and trusting that they can easily come to harm, and being worth quite a lot (our 2 were £300 each) they are targetted for theft. As someone above said, if you never introduce them to the outside world, they are often content to live indoors all their lives. This doesn't always work though, and housecats can get bored if you don't give them enough attention and this can lead to behavioural problems. There is evidence that pedigree cats can be more prone to congenetive illness, and we had one Ragdoll put to sleep after developing the fatal FIP virus, but it's not as common as people make out.
I've never seen one, but there is a breed known as a Bombay which chooses to be housebound. They are quoted as being exceptionally loving to people and crave human contact, whilst showing no interest in the outside world. The are usually jet black with short hair.

We have a Ragdoll and a Tiffanie now. Both pure breeds and both superb characters. The Rag is loving yet independant where he likes fuss and attention, but prefers to sleep alone. He does get bored and restless at times and tries to start fights with the Tiff, and yet has little interest in what's beyond the front door. The Tiffanie couldn't be any more loving. He gets very upset if we don't let him sleep with us, and prefers to be directly in between, actually cuddling. He is also a mischievous little swine at times, and would desparately love to get out to explore.

Sally (rag seal point) and Harry (tif)...


Harry...


Albert (rag seal point)...


Oscar (rag blue point)







http://www.allcats.info/breeds/bombaycats/

http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/bombay-faq.html

http://www.catsinfo.com/bombay.html

Bartop

Great photo's there mate

I'm particularly liking number four !

I'm sure we'd all be grateful if you could post some more pics like that but where we can see all of the ***** please...

corradoboy

But you can in no.5

TheBigMan

Depends on the breed.

I own a Norwegian forest cat. You simply cannot keep this indoors!!! Ever, never, no chance in hell.

I'm sure dossile breeds are ok though - Ragdoll etc.

corradoboy

Got any pics of the Norwegian ? I've seen them in books and they look spectacular

Bartop

no you can't - the cat's in the way

SJ_Skyline

"If I could talk, I'ld lie to you"



This is by far my favourite photo of one of ours - Amber.

CooperS

Ours used to be a house cat, it was scared of everything, but after a few years she's come out of her shell a bit and goes outside now, but if any tractors go past up into the fields she comes barrelling back in full speed.

Means she stays off the main road round the front though

Reality

These two used to be House cats.

They get out now.



When they were younger



ps I know the dates look funny - Digi cams didn't exist when these two were born (Or rather I couldn't afford one). 2nd pic is a digi pic of an old photo.

Patt@firstime

ajm

SJ_Skyline

Patt@firstime

LOL

Leslie

There may well be some individual cats which prefer to stay indooors but generally I would think it is unnatural and unfair to the cat. The ones I have seen who were not allowed out spent most of their time sitting on the windowsills looking out in a longing fashion.

Les

Dieseldog

AJM. 'The only good cat... etc'.

RLE

iTrader: (2)

Wish they were ALL bloody house cats.

My garden seems to be the local litter tray. Sh*t everywhere I look yet I dont even have a blummin pet. They appear to have squatters rights and I mean that literally.........force one out and then they're off.

Slightly off track I know. Apologies.